Lover
by compulsivepoetics
Summary: Hope and Rafael are secretly hooking up and things are going great. Unlabeled. Undefined. Fun. But adding in confusing feelings, unhinged teenage hormones, supernatural threats, school, newcomers, complicated friends and exes could make this whole thing catastrophic.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Her eyes fluttered open. Sun rays were shining in her eyes from the window across the room. It was morning and class was probably starting soon. Moving to get up, she was held back by strong arms encircled around her waist.

_Shit_.

She maneuvered around to face the slumbering, warm body she was embraced in. "Raf." She called softly. His chest continued to slowly rise and fall. She wrapped her hand around his exposed bicep and began to shake him. "Raf, wake up!"

His eyebrows scrunched and nose crinkled as he let out a husky response."Hmm? Five more minutes, Hope." She was pulled flush against him, heat everywhere. She couldn't stop her soft smile. It made her want to stay wrapped up in his warmth but that was risky and a little reckless.

"No, Raf you have to get up" She cooed gently.

He just squeezed her tighter."Baby..stop."

Hope froze.

Did he just call her baby?

She leaned back as far as his grip would allow to stare at him. He's never called her that before. She didn't really know how to take they weren't dating. They were just friends who enjoyed each other's company- sometimes in intimate ways. Though she didn't have time to mull over the ridiculousness of that because she could hear various voices outside her bedroom door, indicating the rest of the school was up and ready for the day. Her eyes flickered over his face. Calm. Serene. Sexy.

She bit her lip. An easy approach was tried and failed. She gave him a hard push, using some of her supernatural strength, to jolt him from his slumber. She only felt slightly bad for it.

His eyes flashed open, clouded with drowsiness and confusion, looking around for a fire."W-what? What's going on?"

She sat up in the bed with a smirk, his T-shirt riding up on her thighs, exposing the creamy flesh."You slept over last night. It's like eight o' clock."

His gaze shot over to the clock she had on her nightstand and he groaned, ripping the covers back."Shit." He crawled over her, making a beeline for his discarded jeans on the floor. He hastily pulled them up each leg. "Why didn't you wake me up, Hope!?"

She rose from the bed with her arms crossed. "Really?"

He ignored her, patting his pockets absentmindedly, scanning the room. "Your phone is over there." She nodded to her desk. A grateful look was sent her way as he grabbed it, making his way for the door. She cocked a brow. "You're going barefoot?

His confused gaze trailed down to his in fact bare feet. "Crap." He snatched his shoes up from beside her bed, tugging them on quickly, rising to leave again when Hope's amused voice stopped him.

"Raf...your fly."

He looked down at his undid jeans and then back up at her with a slight blush. She bit her lip as he zipped them up. "Thanks."

"No problem." She giggled.

He walked backwards the short distance to the door with a rushed "bye." Before shutting the door behind him.

"Bye." She responded softly to the now empty space in front of her. She played with the bottom of the shirt for a moment, flashes of last night running through her mind when her door suddenly opened. She sighed playfully staring at the wall, feigning exasperation. "What'd you forget this time?"

"This." She was whipped around and pulled flush against him. She stared up into his eyes, noticing that they were less hazy and frantic than two minutes ago. His lips descended upon hers, engulfing her into a kiss. His hands slowly drag up the back of her thighs taking the tail of his shirt with them, causing her to moan quietly, pressing harder against him. Surprisingly, they stopped just at the top of her hips, kneading into the soft flesh lips slide over each other's slowly but deeply, tongues causally tangling together. But the ever present student body outside was still at the forefront of their awareness, keeping them from going too far. He pulled back with a cute smirk at her eyes still being closed, chest heaving. When they did flutter open, he pressed one last kiss against her bruised, plump lips with a smile. "See you later?"

She nods her head slowly, still a little dazed from that heated kiss. "Yeah." She breathed.

His smile widened as he squeeze her once more before finally leaving her alone in her room. She brought her fingertips up to her lips unable to stop the grin from breaking out on her face nor the eruption of butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

God, what was happening to her?


	2. Chapter 2

You seem different, Hope." She lifted her head up to Emma, whom was sitting across from her, clipboard perched against her lap. Her brow lifted.

"Different, how?" Alaric had said something similar not too long ago. She had brushed it off without much thought but now she was intrigued.

"You seem...happy." Emma decided, with a thoughtful expression.

She snorted, "I am not happy."

A smile tugged at Emma's lips, as she sat a little straighter. "Oh, really? You're not?"

"No."

"Well, why not?" Hope regarded her as if she was stupid.

"You know why." She said slowly. "You know what happened to my family- the _insane_ things that keeps happening here-"

"And yet, I've never seen you smile so much in all of the years that I've known you." Hope paused, not having a retort for that. Maybe, she had been smiling a lot and maybe she actually did feel a little happier these days but it didn't mean she wanted to talk to a school counselor about it, even if it was Emma. "You know, I also couldn't help but notice-

"You can't seem to help but notice everything, Emma." She smiles falsely.

Emma's smile is more genuine. "It's my job, Hope." There is a moment of silence between them before Emma's starting again. "Rafael."

She ignored the quick shutter that went through her and schooled her features to appear casual. "What about him?" She asks, crossing her arms. She didn't like the way Emma was staring at her. Like she knew it all and more.

"You two seem to spend a lot of time together."

"We're friends. You did say I needed friends once, remember?" Emma nodded slowly.

"Yes, I remember, and you've made excellent progress. I truly am proud of you. However, I think it might help to discuss Landon-"

"I don't want to talk about Landon." She says firmly.

"Okay then, let's talk about Rafael."

"There's nothing to talk about. I told you, he's my friend- end of story."

Emma stared at her for a while before sighing, setting her clipboard on the end table next to her. "You know, Hope. Before, when we started your sessions and you weren't opening up- I knew it was because you were afraid. You were afraid to let people in because of all the hurt and lost you've experienced at such a young age." Hope looked away. "But with time, you came around, allowed yourself to have friends, a love, we even talked about her father." She leaned forward with a pensive expression. "But you're closing up again and I don't think it's for the same reasons as before. Look, I won't push you. Whatever's going on is something you need to figure out on your own."

Hope felt relief flood through her but didn't dare show it. "So, we're done?"

Emma nodded, "you're free to go, Hope." She rose from the chair, heading to the door all but ready to bolt when her name was called. "Hope?" She turned. "I'm glad you have someone-_something_ that's making you happy these days. It's quite lovely to see."

Hope couldn't stop the small smile that crept up on her, so she just slipped out the door without another word, leaving a smirking Emma in her wake.

(break)

Hope watched in amusement as Rafael picked over the lasagna on his lunch tray with a grimace. "Raf, Miss Griswold won't die if you don't get the lasagna one Thursday." She says, already tearing her burger in half. Rafael shook his head, dropping his fork with a sigh.

"You don't understand, Hope. She gets excited every time she sees me. She says I'm the only one out of the _entire_ school who gets her lasagna and that's only because-"

"You were the new kid, who didn't know any better." She laughs with a knowing look.

"Yeah." He smiles. "So, I'm stuck with Thursday lasagnas." She rolls her eyes, handing him half of her burger. They're fingers brushed. They're eyes met shyly as they slowly pull away. She opened her mouth to say something but movement in the corner of her eye and sudden hushed voices caught her attention. She turned to see all eyes on a girl and a boy walking through the lunchroom. She didn't recognize them.

"Who are they?"

"New kids, just transferred here yesterday."

She cocked a brow, turning to him. "You didn't tell me about that."

He looked sheepish, making her smile curiously. "I was going to tell you last night but we kind of got distracted."

Hope bit her lip, feeling herself blush. "Right." They never talked about when they hooked up. They just did it. She looked back at the newcomers to see them being waved over by the vampires. Hm. Vampires. However, the girl stopped short when her gaze fell in line with them. She smirked, grabbing her brother, pulling them in the direction of Hope and Rafael. Her brow creased. "Are they coming over...here?"

Rafael looked confused as well. "Looks like it."

When they reached the table the girl coolly sat her tray down with her brother trailing behind with an apologetic smile.

Rafael glanced at Hope. "Uh, no offense but vamps usually eat lunch with other vamps."

The girl shrugged, putting a straw in her water bottle. "I don't like boring status quo and you look like fun." Hope cocked an eyebrow at her not being subtle.

The boy laughed to ease the small tension, sticking his hand out to Rafael. "Hey man, I'm Ethan. This unfortunately is my twin sister, Maya."

She bumped her shoulders with his. "Bite me."

Rafael shook his hand with a nod. "Rafael." The twins looked to her expectantly.

Hope raised her hand slightly with a small wave. "Hope."

Ethan smiled, "nice to meet you guys."

"So Rafael, Hope...what kind of trouble do you like to get into?"

"I've had enough trouble to last the rest of my high school career." Hope said wryly.

Maya eyed her with intrigue. "Interesting."

"Where are you guys from?" Rafael asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"West Coast." Ethan said, popping a fry into his mouth. "So what's the deal on this place? School for supernaturals? How does that really work?"

"Somehow it does."

"Our mom wouldn't shut up about this place. Mystic Falls this, Mystic Falls that. She couldn't wait to ship us out here. Out of sight, out of mind." Hope squinted her eyes.

"Maya, bringing up our drunken mom isn't how you make friends." Ethan reminded her good naturedly.

"Sorry, I'm a little rusty on the whole making friends thing." She looked around. "I know this is the South but seriously what's with the whole segregation thing." Rafael looked at her weirdly. "You know the whole, vamps sit with vamps- all the witches are together, werewolves…well that's expected."

"There are sometimes, tensions between people so the headmaster suggests everyone to sit with their kind to avoid conflict, it's not a real requirement."

"Good." Maya smirk, staring at him. "I like this company."

Hope could almost taste a sarcastic retort on her tongue but the shape of a certain someone's body came into view. A certain someone who wasn't supposed to be back for another two weeks.

She leaned towards Rafael with a frown. "Is that?"

"Landon." The boy in question smiled when he spotted them, offering an awkward wave. Hope internally screamed. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Landon. Seeing the apprehensive look on Rafael's face made it worse and she could feel the comfortable bubble they've been hiding in slowly popping.

She could feel the blissful feelings that had taken residence inside her evaporating as more complicated ones took root.

Why was happiness always so fleeting?


End file.
